The German antitrust disputes the mandatory link between the social network profile and the one to use the virtual reality headsets
Facebook's Oculus Quest. (Photo by Amy Osborne / AFP) (Photo credit should read AMY OSBORNE / AFP via Getty Images) The increasingly close relationship between Facebook and Oculus has alerted the German Competition Authority which has opened an investigation claiming that the connection between the social network and its virtual reality headsets could harm the competition.To use the new Oculus Quest 2 you need a Facebook account instead of the classic Oculus ID that users were used to using. This connection made the Bundeskartellamt, the German antitrust, turn their noses.
According to the president of the competition authority, Andreas Mundt, “connecting the virtual reality products and the social network of the group in this way it could constitute an abuse of a dominant position by Facebook, which is prohibited ”. Since in Germany, as in many other countries of the world, Facebook is the number one social network, the antitrust wants to make sure that this position does not negatively affect competition in the virtual reality market, where Menlo Park operates thanks to the acquisition of Oculus. in 2014.
The company, however, had already suspended sales of Oculus Quest in Germany at the beginning of the year due to stringent privacy rules. Therefore, although the Oculus devices are not available on the German market, Facebook has told The Verge that it wants to collaborate fully with the Bundeskartellamt to show that there is no reason to continue with the investigation.
Oculus is therefore facing a second investigation in the field of unfair competition after the one launched by the antitrust investigators of the US Department of Justice. According to Bloomberg, the company's developers cloned the applications of smaller companies, then directing their users to the copies created by the company.
The mandatory link to the Facebook account to use Oculus viewers has also made many users turn up their noses but despite this Facebook has never shown the intention to take steps back. Now, however, the colossus of Menlo Park is facing two different fronts with official pressure to change its rules.